Emerging Artists: Fatmunk
Emma Buckley
Belfast-based funk-rock quartet Fatmunk have released their new single ‘Neighbourhood’ and brought what they describe as “some long-awaited musical magic” to the eyes and ears of Belfast. This is a new era for the band, formerly known as Valium, who made the decision to change their name following some dubious search results for their band and shady characters in their inbox. Since the change, they’ve been working hard on new material and are thrilled to finally get back to doing what they do best: showcasing their stunning musicianship through groovy tracks and packed-out gigs. Fatmunk launched their single with an explosive set at Voodoo on October 23 that marked only the beginning of the band’s new era of tunes.
Though Fatmunk have been writing and performing together since 2018, their music and energy never fails to breathe new life into the local music scene. After a wave of lockdowns and a rechristening of the band’s name, it feels right to consider them emerging, or re-emerging, artists, now that they’re back with new gigs, new music, and more energy than ever. With that in mind, a reintroduction to the group feels in order.
The band is comprised of lead vocalist Caolan Tomlinson, bassist David Dalzell, drummer Matt Holland and guitarist Ben Murray. The intimidatingly talented quartet started the band at Belfast Met. Ben describes the process as a slow one: the group began with Ben and David, who had hit if off when they met as first year students. When they heard Caolan sing, the immediate consensus was “yeah, he’s the dude” for the vocals. Matt started off as being “way too cool” for the rest of the band to approach him and was reluctant to get involved with the self-confessed “dad riffs” they were playing at the time. Despite him missing their first rehearsal due to “lying in a field somewhere” after a night of hard partying, he and Ben now live together, and the band lives on.
Describing the band’s sound has always been a tricky issue. As David says, their musical influences “stem from so many genres and artists that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where we lie” – which perhaps is a good thing, as the band never fail to nail their diverse range of original songs and covers, making every sound their own. David describes Fatmunk’s upcoming releases as “containing different flavours to make up a tasty Fatmunk pie” and hopes that you’ll stick around to try some.
As for their new single, ‘Neighbourhood’ is an infectious banger written collaboratively by the band. Caolan describes writing the lyrics in a stream of consciousness after being given the music, working intuitively with the sound rather than focusing on an implicit message or meaning to the song. This is a surprising revelation, as lines like “he’s a certain type of someone you don’t ever wanna believe” and “my reflection, is it still showing?” unify into a tone of nervous energy, an underlying feeling of unresolved conflict and anxiety that explodes in the anthemic chorus. Matt and Ben provided the song’s bouncy bassline and funky guitar riffs, which collide spectacularly with an aggressive production by Matt Weir, who gives ‘Neighbourhood’ some fantastic grit.
When it comes to the creative process, the band advise not forcing it too hard. Caolan shares that “I used to force myself to write non-stop for ninety minutes every day, but that killed any creativity that I may have had” and instead waits for ideas to arrive, picking up the guitar for ten or fifteen minutes a few times a day to see if anything sparks. While Caolan is responsible for the barebones of the band’s music – the lyrics, melodies and harmonies – the rest of the band collaborate fully with his ideas, adding new sections, hooks and changes to create a sound that is entirely Fatmunk. This was the case especially for their single Live in the Lightning, a song that began as an original idea by Matt and transformed into a Fatmunk hit with the collaborative efforts of all four members. Ben and David have shared that they’ve recently been coming up with songs individually and bringing them back to the band, and advises everyone to “keep your ears peeled for that! (Is that an expression? Hopefully not)”.
When it comes to taking their music out of the studio and onto the stage, Matt is firm that “everyone enjoys watching live music unless you’re a sociopath” and believes that performing is extremely important on a number of levels. It helps the band financially through ticket and merch sales, where the band can receive a bulk of the profits, as opposed to streaming services that take a massive cut. He also believes it forces musicians not to slack: “To make a song sound good with the help of studio magic, a good producer and plug-ins is one thing, but to make it sound good live, in the moment, on stage, is a completely different thing” as it demands musicians to tighten up and put their all into their performance.
On a more personal level, David adds that “playing gigs and having that interaction with people is the best part about this stuff – it means so much to us that people we know, and even ones we don’t, would come to the gigs and sing our songs back at us. It just goes to show the love for music in this country. Those people are all legends – which, if you’re reading this, could be you! In that case, thanks very much from me (and us!)”.
Overall, the band doesn’t see a downside to live performance. As Matt says, “it helps not only the arts economy, but also all hospitality sectors, all the bars and restaurants who put on live music” – including Voodoo, where they launched the latest single with an electrifying set last month. The band describe holding Voodoo in their hearts, as it was the venue where they first launched their EP at a sold-out show.
Fatmunk’s headline show at Voodoo at the end of October was nothing short of a powerhouse performance from every member of the band, with the audience screaming every word alongside them. The audience’s enthusiasm never once wavered, between covers, old hits and newer releases. Not only were the band stellar performers (as always) but their chemistry is infectious. It is an absolute joy to see four musicians so thoroughly enjoying their time on stage together, while banging out monumental tunes on top of it all. Nothing could better showcase the love for Fatmunk than the sound of an audience singing every word to a single that was released only two days before the show.
When it comes to making music and feeling confidence in what you can offer to the scene, Ben affirms that the band are going to keep doing their thing, “and if someone doesn’t like it, it doesn’t really matter; keeping it authentic and fluid will eventually attract someone who is into it, and then it’s like multiplied returns on the funk and enjoyment” (which is never in short supply at a Fatmunk gig). The band empathise with the anxiety of putting yourself out there, but Matt recommends not comparing yourself to other performers and just doing what you do best – “Allow other musicians to inspire how and what you play, but allow that to manifest itself into your own style, and that will turn into your own voice. People want to come and see you, not you doing an impression of your favourite artist. Unless you’re an Elvis impersonator.”
Of all the advice the band have to share, the best is this, from Ben: “It’s the anxiety of putting yourself out there, it’s pretty vulnerable, but in the end the sun will engulf the earth and nothing will be left, so it actually doesn’t even matter and you might as well go for it”.
Emma Buckley is Head Culture editor at The Scoop and an MA Poetry student at Queen’s University Belfast.